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Winter redfish patterns start early PDF Print E-mail
Written by Danno Wise   
Saturday, 03 January 2009
Photo by LSONEWS.com
Photo by LSONEWS.com
In stark contrast to recent years on the Texas coast, 2008 has seen winter weather actually beat the calendar. From Port Isabel to Port Arthur, cooling winds of change began to blow during early fall. By the time winter officially arrives Dec. 22, most inshore species will have been in a “winter pattern” for more than a month. This is not, however, to say there won’t be plenty of good fishing.

In fact, fishing has been fine and getting better along the Lone Star State’s coastal curve — particularly where redfish are concerned.

“They are being caught all over the Galveston Bay system,” said Tiki Island resident and avid angler Rick Vidock, who said he has also been able to boat good catches of speckled trout on artificials. “Bulls are being caught at the jetties and in the surf. A lot of slot-size and rat reds are being caught in East Bay, Trinity Bay, Galveston Bay and lower West Bay.

“I use only artificial lures. But most people who are targeting redfish specifically are using finger mullet, mud minnows or shrimp.”

As good as the redfish action is along the Upper Coast, it is just as good or better along the Middle and Lower coasts. “Everybody’s catching redfish around Port O’Connor,” said Dennis Lala of Victoria. “The water temperature is still in the mid-60s, so there are still quite a few fish along the shorelines and in the back lakes. But there are also a lot of redfish being caught on the deeper reefs.

“Wherever you are, there have been a lot of small fish. People are going out and catching 30, 40 or 50 redfish in a day. They may end up catching a couple of limits of slot fish, but they’re also catching a lot of undersized fish mixed in. But there’s a lot of action.

Lala said oversized reds are coming in as well.

“Several guys I know and fish with have taken big bulls off the deeper reefs over the past few weeks. Those bigger fish were caught with bait. But, you can catch the smaller fish — including slot-size fish — on artificials like Berkley GULP! Shrimp if you’re not fishing bait.”

Along the Lower Coast, winter often doesn’t set in until January — if at all. This year, however, Old Man Winter has been blowing substantially cool air into the Texas tropics since September. This hasn’t hindered the redfish action, though.

“We’re catching plenty of redfish,” said Laguna Vista resident Cruz Lamas. “I’ve caught quite a few fish along the west side. South Cullen Bay and Airport Cove have been good. But I’ve also caught some really good fish on the east side around Gas Wells.

“I’ve actually caught a lot of fish fairly shallow — especially between fronts. Some I’ve caught on fly, and some I’ve caught on plastics. But on those warm days between fronts, it really doesn’t seem to matter. The fish have really been turned on.”
 
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